Veteran actor, Adebayo Salami, popularly known as Oga Bello, tells Ademola Olonilua how he became an actor
There was a programme we had then on NTV Nigeria Television before it became NTA, the programme was called Bar Beach Show.
It was anchored by the late Art Alade, father of Darey Art-Alade. We
were given a comedy segment on the show. During the show, my boss, Ojo
Ladipo, gave me the name Bello and since I was a senior staff in the
office, I was called Oga Bello and that was how the name stuck.
You have been acting since age 12, how did it actually start?
I would say God has designed everything
for everybody and He sent us to the earth to deliver certain messages.
In 1964, I lived in Lagos Island, that was where I was brought up and a
lot of festivals happened there. I have always had passion for anything
that has to do with arts. One day, I was in my school at Ansarudeen
Oke-Ejigbo, Lagos, when I heard some drum beats and I was curious to
know what was happening. I climbed the wall to see what was happening
and I saw a group of people dancing and beating drums. When I made
enquiries from them, they said that they were the Youngsters Concert
Party and it was led by Ojo Ladipo. I decided to join them. That was how
it started. It was the same Youngsters Concert Party that later turned
into the Ojo Ladipo Theatre Group.
Although you are from Ilorin, you were born in Agege, Lagos but you were raised by your uncle instead of your parents, why?
It was not my decision; it was my
parents’ decision. My father and my uncle were brothers; they were the
only children of their mother. In the olden days, there was this concept
of giving a sibling your child to raise as his/her own. So they gave me
to my uncle and I could not reject it.
We learnt there was a time
your uncle almost cursed you with a Quran because you became an actor.
What were the challenges you faced while acting at such a tender age?
Majorly in Ilorin, if you are into
entertainment, you are considered as an unserious and wayward child.
Most of the people who were into entertainment were considered to be
dropouts. It was worse for me because I was the first son in the family
so my parents did not want me to become an actor. In Ilorin then, most
parents wanted their children to be either Islamic scholars or traders.
But I did not want to be any of that. Even at the age of 12 when I began
acting, nobody knew in my family. I had to sneak out of the house most
times. When they discovered and their complaints were getting too much, I
decided to run away from home. They did not find it funny because at a
point I was living in a church with a friend. You can imagine how they
felt because mine was a devout Islamic family. I was staying with a
friend who was a Christian and after about a month of living with him,
he said that I could not be sleeping in his house without worshipping
with them so I decided to get my own garment and attended church with
them. That made my parents very angry and they sent my brother, Saka,
who is dead now, to get me out of the church and he took me to Agege
where my parents and grandmother lived. When I went back home, they had
called a family meeting on me and that was when my uncle brought out a
Quran and said that he would curse me with it and that I should desist
from going for rehearsals. Ironically at the family meeting, it was the
same brother of mine who came to fetch me from the church that
intervened on my behalf and told the family to leave me that maybe
acting could be my calling.
At what stage did your uncle give you his blessing to become an actor?
We had a wedding ceremony in our house in
Ilorin and one of my younger sisters wanted to gain admission into the
Kwara State Polytechnic but somehow the result was manipulated and she
was not given an admission letter. Then I was at NTA Ilorin and people
knew me everywhere. After the marriage my uncle told me that I would
take him to the school so he could see to the admission of my sister. As
we got to the school compound, people began shouting Bello. I asked for
the office of the rector and they described the place to me. Before I
got there, a large crowd had gone there and they were shouting my name.
The rector rushed out to see what was happening and when he saw me, he
was shocked and welcomed me warmly. I went in with my uncle and for
about 30 minutes he was talking about my movies and the characters I had
played. Later, he asked why I was at his office and when we told him,
immediately he instructed that an admission letter should be issued. My
uncle did not say anything. When we got back to the car, he said that he
was convinced that acting was my path and that was the day he gave me
his blessing.
Aside from your chosen career, what other areas in life did you meet some difficulties?
I also had some challenges with my
education. I was brilliant when I was in the primary school but my uncle
could not afford to send me to secondary school. My father had the
money but my uncle would never go to my father to ask for intervention
because my father had already placed him as my parent. I was not happy
because I liked education and I always like to learn every time even
till now. Later, some of my friends from primary school gained admission
into various secondary schools but I realised that the closest school
to my house was the Ansarudeen School in Surulere (Lagos) and some of my
friends were there. What I did was to target the time they would close
from school and I would wait at the gate. When they come out of school,
they would teach me what they had been taught during the day and when
the time for their examination came, they would also set exams for me.
That was what I did to learn. I did that until I had the opportunity to
attend Adebo Commercial School, Lagos, where I read up to Class Four.
After that, I decided to learn everything by myself and see where I am
today. Because of my interest and the fact that my mates were advancing
without me and I wanted to catch up with them, I resorted to self-help. I
told myself that even though my parents could not afford to send me to
school, I could manage by myself which I did.
How did you feel when your mentor and group leader, Ojo Ladipo, died?
I felt very bad; it was a very sad moment
in my life because I thought everything had ended there. Although he
was on the sick bed for months, we did not expect him to die like that.
When he died, I did not know what to do because before then, I was
working at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and earning salary.
I left there and joined Femi Okunnu’s Chambers in 1976 where I also
earned salary until we decided to make our theatre group a full time
job. I resigned from my place of work, I stopped earning salary and in
1978, Ojo Ladipo died. I was the next person to him before he died, I
wanted to quit but people said the group could not die like that. The
first problem we had was lack of money to move around; we had to borrow
money with interests. We were also required to put some gold down as
collateral. Before Ojo Ladipo died, we also had some debts we had to
settle. Everything was tough for me at that time but people kept
encouraging and counselling me and I listened to their advice which
later paid off.
One of the people that
counselled you was the Late Hubert Ogunde who inspired you to become an
actor. How did you feel when he was giving you words of encouragement?
The Late Hubert Ogunde was my role model
and he was the one who inspired me to become an actor. The first time,
Baba did not counsel me, it was when the wife of Ojo Ladipo died that I
gave up totally. I called it quits. Although I did not tell Baba that,
he heard what I said and he sent for me. When he counselled me, I had
peace of mind. We all looked up to him and for someone like that to
counsel me and tell me I had a bright future and prospect, I had no
choice than to listen. He told me that whoever would be great in life
must face challenges and he promised to always pray for me. I changed my
mind because I respected him.
A lot has been said about the
Late Hubert Ogunde with some claiming that he was very fetish. Being
someone that was close to him, what kind of man was Ogunde?
Hubert Ogunde was a disciplined man but
those who were not close to him thought he was a wicked person. He loved
those who knew what they were doing as well as hardworking people. He
cherished anybody that had focus and he had a way of counselling people.
When I released Omo Orukan, he said I should be persistent in
making quality movies. He said that I should maintain my quality and
make further research. He made me understand that you can learn from
anybody even the youngest person in the room. If you see the talent or
knowledge in the young one, tap from it. Although he was famous, he also
wanted everyone around him to be famous too and he supported with
anything he could, either financially or morally. To people who don’t
know, Ogunde was a prayer warrior. He prayed a lot, he was not a fetish
man. He loved our culture very dearly and he did not joke with it. He
prayed a lot and always wanted to be close to God. He was one who
believed that you should be prayerful in anything you want to do.
You are one of the first set
of Yoruba actors to produce a movie, Ogun Ajaye, in celluloid in
Nigeria, how were you able to make the project a reality?
I had the experience. I bought books on
film making and I read a lot, I also submitted myself to the likes of
Ade Love and Hubert Ogunde to learn the practical aspect. As for
resources, I ran into problems twice. The first was when I went to a top
society man to use his influence to secure a loan from the bank. He
agreed and the bank sent the money into the man’s account but he spent
it on his social life. The second was when a friend teamed up with me
but told me that he would have his percentage when the film was
released. I agreed. I was not even thinking of the profit, the only
thing I wanted was for people to know that I produced a movie. My friend
introduced me to someone else who gave us the money and I produced the
film. Later my friend began to backbite me telling the executive
producer all sorts about me. The executive producer told him that he
loved me and told me all the bad things my friend had said about me.
Eventually that my friend came to me and said he wanted to sell his own
part of the movie, I bought it and paid him off and we went our separate
ways.
How was the transition for you, moving from stage play to shooting films?
It was not a tough transition because I
was always learning and I believed in moving with time. By the time we
moved from stage plays, we did not go to the cinemas straight. The next
step was the television programme and that is similar to film making so
there was no problem going in front of the camera. All I did was to
learn about film making and the ethics of the profession. I have passion
for my profession and I approach it with every sense of seriousness and
that has helped me a lot. I moved with time, it was not a difficult
transition but I must confess; producing a movie is a difficult thing.
How do you feel when you look at the industry and see that stage plays are not as vibrant as they used to be?
There is little one can do. I guess it
has to do with technology. When on stage, you have to describe
everything and the audience has to visualise and use their imagination.
But going to the movies, you do not need to use your imagination. All
you have to do is sit back and enjoy the show. A lot of people prefer to
see the real deal than to use their imagination. Personally, I prefer
stage performances and the aspect I love the most is the participation
of the audience. When acting, the audience go along with you and you
invite them to be a part of the play. I enjoyed that a lot.
Is that why you still partake in stage plays?
Yes, I am going to celebrate my 50 years on stage and part of the celebration includes a stage play.
Why did you have so much
faith in your godfather, Femi Okunnu, because when he was leaving the
Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, he asked you to come with him and
you resigned to work in his chambers?
It was because he was my godfather and he
has never advised me wrongly. When I got involved in theatre arts, he
supported me. He loves me a lot. There was a time he spoke to a friend,
Architect Tunde Sholade, and bought a big lorry for the group free of
charge just to support us. Because of the same Okunnu, Sholade put me on
his pay roll just to support our theatre group. Although he was not
happy that I resigned from his chambers to go fully into theatre, he
still continued to support me.
How do you feel having five children toeing your path in the movie industry?
I thank God because there are some people who want their children to carry on with their legacy but have none.
If none of them showed interest how would you have felt?
I did not ask God for it so I would be
okay with whatever profession they chose. I did not force them to be in
this industry and some of my children are in other fields.
You said while growing up you were a rascal. What were some of the things you did?
The area I grew up really influenced me. I
remember I used to go about with the masquerade and hold a cane. I used
to flog people well during festivals. I also used to love fishing.
Do you still go fishing?
I don’t go any more. I stopped because
there was a time we went fishing with some people and the one who knew
how to paddle the canoe was angry with us and said everybody would die.
He threw away the paddle and jumped into the water then he began rocking
the canoe. Immediately I was safe on land, I said I was not going to
fish again.
How do you feel when you
watch some movies and see that some actors promote bad vices like
smoking, illicit sexual affairs and the likes?
I think that it is very bad. I look at
the ladies that carry guns in movies and say they are educating people
and wonder if they would allow their children watch the movies if
they’re parents. I feel it is bad, there are lots of concepts that can
deliver lots of messages without promoting bad habits. Even if you want
to tell a story about a bad vice, there are ways to go about it, you can
preach your message well if you pick the topic and treat it properly.
Now, it is either they carry guns or they are into ‘runs.’ They lack
creativity because they did not learn the job properly. I am not happy
about it but by the grace of God, some people and I are working towards
changing the status quo.
What do you think can be done about it?
A lot can be done. If we impose
discipline on the association, things would change. We have created a
body called Theatre Arts Movie Practitioners Association of Nigeria and
it would tackle the problem. We would give them seminars and workshops
to sensitise people on reasons to shoot a good movie.
You preach against polygamy yet you practise it, why?
Whether by destiny or by error I find
myself as a polygamous man. What God has done for me might not be so for
others because in that area, you will learn a lot. It is in the Quran,
you can marry as many wives as you want provided you can cater for them
equally and that is not possible. So the Quran in a way is against it. I
don’t have any regrets because my house is peaceful and my children are
united but it may not be so for everybody, so it is better you don’t go
into it, that is why I am pushing against it.
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